STOCKHOLM  - Petra Vlhova of Slovakia edged Olympic gold medalist Mikaela Shiffrin of the United States in women's giant slalom at the FIS World Ski Championships in Are, Sweden.

Vlhova finished the race in two minutes 1.97 seconds to win her first major international tournament title and the first World Championship gold for Slovakia.

"I am so proud that I am from Slovakia because we are not a big country and now I am a world champion so it's amazing. The whole team did a great job, and finally I showed everyone who Petra from Slovakia is," Vlhova said.

Viktoria Rebensburg of Germany, who came first after the first run, bagged a silver 0.14 seconds behind Vlhova. World Cup overall and GS leader Shiffrin settled for a bronze.

Vlhova and Shiffrin, both 25, will stage a rematch in the slalom contest on Saturday.